***OFFICIAL CUBS OFF-SEASON THREAD***

I think the Cubs will do better this year than many think. I still wish they would have added a power right handed bat and I am not overly impressed with the starting pitcher they added. But if Castro can bounce back and hit 200 base hits this season and Rizzo returns to that form he had when he was first called up from Iowa they can win a few games. I think Castillo has not reached his potential at the plate or defensively (working on squaring up the pitches), I think Sweeney could be last seasons Schierholtz and Lake is a wild card. I will be interested in seeing how 2nd and 3rd base plays out.

The bullpen is going to be a strength, the starting rotation can be decent. It would not surprise me to see this team be around .500 for most of the season.
 
ssckelley said:
I think the Cubs will do better this year than many think. I still wish they would have added a power right handed bat and I am not overly impressed with the starting pitcher they added. But if Castro can bounce back and hit 200 base hits this season and Rizzo returns to that form he had when he was first called up from Iowa they can win a few games. I think Castillo has not reached his potential at the plate or defensively (working on squaring up the pitches), I think Sweeney could be last seasons Schierholtz and Lake is a wild card. I will be interested in seeing how 2nd and 3rd base plays out.

The bullpen is going to be a strength, the starting rotation can be decent. It would not surprise me to see this team be around .500 for most of the season.
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Boy, that is ALOT of if's just to get to .500 even. This team will be bad once again this year. It sucks as I'm a Cubs fan, but that is just the reality right now. I will get to several I-Cubs games this year, as they should have lots of talent down on the farm this year in Iowa.
 
deanvogs said:
Boy, that is ALOT of if's just to get to .500 even. This team will be bad once again this year. It sucks as I'm a Cubs fan, but that is just the reality right now. I will get to several I-Cubs games this year, as they should have lots of talent down on the farm this year in Iowa.
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Keep in mind though both Rizzo and Castro are still young. So while I might be asking for a lot it is still possible. If these guys were on the other side off 30 then I would agree with you.

Also keep in mind some of that young talent may end up in the bigs by mid season.
 
Here is a really good article on Mike Olt: Mike Olt could be the first domino to fall in Cubs prospect chain | Cubs Den

Hopefully link works I've never done it on this site. This article makes some great points. Olt is kind of the forgotten prospect we picked up in the Garza trade last year. He had a vision problem that is now fixed and if he could turn into the player that made him one of the Rangers top prospects it would really change the dynamics of our rebuild in a good way...would expedite it. All the sudden we would have a 3B and could move Bryant to a Corner OF spot immediately and Move Baez to 2B or have more flex to trade Castro. Starting to feel like Olt could really be THE key factor in how fast we can turn things around, or at least be a huge bonus to us that no one is talking about right now. Position wise we have some exciting prospects, pitching is the area I am most concerned long term right now.
 
No Cubs are in the top 5 for anything and none are in the top 40 for batting average. Only 6 games in but....
 
bogeyman said:
Here is a really good article on Mike Olt: Mike Olt could be the first domino to fall in Cubs prospect chain | Cubs Den

Hopefully link works I've never done it on this site. This article makes some great points. Olt is kind of the forgotten prospect we picked up in the Garza trade last year. He had a vision problem that is now fixed and if he could turn into the player that made him one of the Rangers top prospects it would really change the dynamics of our rebuild in a good way...would expedite it. All the sudden we would have a 3B and could move Bryant to a Corner OF spot immediately and Move Baez to 2B or have more flex to trade Castro. Starting to feel like Olt could really be THE key factor in how fast we can turn things around, or at least be a huge bonus to us that no one is talking about right now. Position wise we have some exciting prospects, pitching is the area I am most concerned long term right now.
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I hope Olt does succeed but I think Christian Villanueva is the one to keep an eye on (no pun intended). Olt is a long shot to make this team and even if he succeeds I doubt he remains in a Cubs uniform for very long. The Cubs have some talented 3rd basemen coming up through the system, a position that many other teams covet good players. But if Olt does become the long term solution then your scenario would be ideal and could make for a powerful future lineup.

One of the things that blows my mind is the amount of power the Cubs have in their farm system, the Cubs appear to be cornering the market on sluggers. Another huge commodity to have.
 
ssckelley said:
I hope Olt does succeed but I think Christian Villanueva is the one to keep an eye on (no pun intended). Olt is a long shot to make this team and even if he succeeds I doubt he remains in a Cubs uniform for very long. The Cubs have some talented 3rd basemen coming up through the system, a position that many other teams covet good players. But if Olt does become the long term solution then your scenario would be ideal and could make for a powerful future lineup.

One of the things that blows my mind is the amount of power the Cubs have in their farm system, the Cubs appear to be cornering the market on sluggers. Another huge commodity to have.
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I haven't heard much with Villanueva. Has anyone heard much on his potential? I believe he is solid defensively. Doesn't he play some 2B too, or am I thinking of the other latin guy...name slipping my mind ...Alcantara maybe? Olt panning out would definitely give us some options, including trading for top tier starting pitching someday. I agree, we have some very solid looking sluggers in the system. But until they prove it at the big league level it doesn't matter as we all know. It is nice to actually feel like we have a farm system though, in my lifetime this is the first time I feel like we actually have one and a plan for it.
 
Always optimistic ... sign from 45 years ago (that's right, 1969).

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Alot of ifs. Still haven't seen the making of anything, but a great I-Cub team. Signing a top tier pitcher, when is that happening again?
 
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bogeyman said:
Very interesting article on espn.com today. Warning, its kind of long but very detailed and brings up some great points about changes to the CBA that have not helped speed the rebuilding plan. An interesting read.
Apples and Oranges, Bambinos and Billy Goats «
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Excellent read. Thanks for sharing.

This helps to really explain a lot about what Epstein and Co. are trying to accomplish, and how they have to go about doing it given the culture of today's game (from a front office perspective).
 
I was at the Spring game last week against the Rockies, who by the way blanked the Cubs 13-0 w/4 dingers, and there are a lot of names I didn't recognize, patience is key with this team and Theo will get them back....
 
1977Hawkeye said:
Excellent read. Thanks for sharing.

This helps to really explain a lot about what Epstein and Co. are trying to accomplish, and how they have to go about doing it given the culture of today's game (from a front office perspective).
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Yes, definitely a lot more complicated than it appears sometimes with all the rules to keep up with and follow too. Really, the key to this whole thing IMO is hitting a couple "home runs" in the draft with these high picks we have the last couple years. I love the Bryant pick and think he'll be worth not taking a pitcher #2 last year. Pitching... sometimes you need a little luck. Look how many guys have already gone down with arm injuries this spring alone. Some young power arms is what we are needing in the system the worst right now I'd say. Not sure people realize just how bare the cupboard of the farm system was when Theo took over.
 
Better make your plans on being in Des Moines early, the first couple of months should be fun for the AAA team with Baez being there, Alcantara, Villanueva, and possibly Olt. They actually will have a decent lineup with some real prospects instead of MLB fillers like they had last year. It will be make or break years for guys like Vitters and Brett Jackson, I still like Vitters if he can remain healthy. The Iowa Cubs every day lineup might be better than the Chicago Cubs every day lineup at the start of the season.

The pitching prospects looks promising as well with guys like Hendricks and Pierre Johnson being in the rotation, keep your eye on Carlos Pimentel another young player they grabbed out of the Rangers farm system.
 
ssckelley said:
Better make your plans on being in Des Moines early, the first couple of months should be fun for the AAA team with Baez being there, Alcantara, Villanueva, and possibly Olt. They actually will have a decent lineup with some real prospects instead of MLB fillers like they had last year. It will be make or break years for guys like Vitters and Brett Jackson, I still like Vitters if he can remain healthy. The Iowa Cubs every day lineup might be better than the Chicago Cubs every day lineup at the start of the season.

The pitching prospects looks promising as well with guys like Hendricks and Pierre Johnson being in the rotation, keep your eye on Carlos Pimentel another young player they grabbed out of the Rangers farm system.
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Absolutely, for the first time in awhile there will be some fun prospects to watch at Iowa. I Cubs Brass has to be thrilled with it. Boy if Olt pans out I'm really liking the Garza trade as we also got Edwards from that deal. Garza most likely will be hurt in the next year or two anyway. Vitters and Jackson were our '08 and '09 1st Rd picks. This is my point about hitting a few studs with these top 5 picks we're getting. Those two should be starring for us right now and instead are wasting away at AAA.
 
ssckelley said:
Yep that Garza deal could turn into on of the most lopsided deals ever that went into the Cubs favor.
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If it comes close to being as good of a deal as the Jose Hernandez, Matt Bruback, and Bobby Hill for Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton then I'll be thrilled. To this day I'll never understand what Hendry had on the Pirates GM to make him make that trade.
 
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